Fire-alarm



No. 623,009. Patented Apr. u, I899. H, E. GREENE & J. w. HALEY.

FIRE ALARM.

(Application filed m s, 1899.)

(no Modem 4 SheEta-Sheot a.

MZZQE Greene Wh 77".

A TTOHN E Y S.

No. 623,009. Patented Apr. 1!, I899.

H. E. GREENE &. J. W. HALEY.

FIRE ALARM.

(Application filed JA'n. 3, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheots$haet 2.

G 0 l'n W/ TNE SSE S INVENTOHS m Jiarlwl? (77296716,

John T 6 By t ATTORNEYS.

wz unRRvS vsrzns ca Pmmi'nuo WASNINGYDN. u. c.

No. s2a,oo 9. 1 V Patantad Mr. H, I889. H. annzzna & ,1. w. HALEY.

. I FIRE ALARM. v I (L'wmflna an ina. l, 1599.)

,(No Model.) 4 Shook-Shut 4.

llllll am I, i 1:

In h LL 1w) lllllnnnmmmmam mnl WITNESSES INVENTOHI I org ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I-IARLIE EDWARD GREENE AND JOHN WILLIAM HALEY, OF HOT SPRINGS,

ARKANSAS.

FIRE-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters PatentNo. 623,009, dated April 11, 1899. Applination filed January 3, 1899. Serial Nm.'l00,983. (No model.)

cessible by the breaking of said plate instead of opening the box by a key. In the form of box in which a key is first used to open the i door it frequently happens that the box is rendered useless by an excited person putting in the key and turning it the wrong way or failing to put the key in deep enough before trying to turn it, thus breaking the key and rendering the box useless before an alarm can be turned in.

.Our invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of a box employingsuch glass plate and push-button instead 2 5 of a key, as will be hereinafter described with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the box; Fig. 2, an interior view of the same with the door open and with the detachable cover removed from the interior case. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4C is a section taken through the clock mechanism or driving-gear on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents sectional details showing the. manner of constructing the detachable glass panel front of the interior casing.

In the drawings, A represents the outer box or metal casing, which is provided with a hinged metal door A, having in the lower portion of the-same a glass window, formed by rabbeting the inner edges of the opening in the door and fitting therein athin frangible plate A of glass, which is held in place by lugs a and set-screws a on the inside, which lugs are secured to the metal of the door-frame and have tapped through them the threaded ends of the set-screws a, which latter bear against the glass plate in such away as to allow the plate to be easily fractured by a blow from the outside.

mechanism from time to time.

. out the shank of the push-button.

Inside the outer case and in the lower part of the same directly opposite the frangible plate there is a push-button B, which when forcibly pushed in transmits its in fluence to the operative mechanism of the box above, which operative mechanism is contained within a supplemental case 0, contained within the outer case A and located immediately above the frangible panel in the outer case. This supplemental case conforms in general shape to the upper portion of the outer case, and is a perfectly inclosed and tight inner case, its function being to protect the fine mechanism and contact-points of the firealarm from theinjurious effects of rain, snow, and dust when the frangible panel below is broken open. This supplemental case is screwed to the outer case by insulated screws (1 and has a detachable front plate of heavy glass 0' contained within a marginal metal frame C This plate and frame constitute aremovable cover, which is tightly secured in front of theinner case, being removably secured thereto by a hole cin the top of the metal frame, which fits over-a stud c on'the top of the casing of the inner box, and by two setscrews 0 c at the bottom, which are tapped through the bottom of the metal frame and engage with the bottom of the inner casing. In the face of the glass plate 0' there is formed a hole 0 through which a winding-key is inserted to wind up the spring of the actuating This hole is normally closed by a soft-rubber stopper or plug.

The push-button B (see Fig. 3) has a shank portion that slides in ahorizontal barrel B Whose end is flanged and screwed to the back of the outer case A. Within this barrel is a 0 helical spring B which tends always to press- The top of the barrel and its flanged base are slitted longitudinally to permit the movement therein back and forth of a plate B,having an inclined 9 5 upper surface and fixed to and moving with the push-button. The push-button shank and inclined plate are introduced into the barrel through its slitt'ed base before the barrel is secured to the casing A. A flanged screw-cap B is afterward screwed onto the outer end of the barrel and the push-button then screwed clined plate B there is a freely-sliding pin 1),

held vertically in guides fixed in the bottom of theinnercasingC. This pin has a flanged head 4 to keep it from dropping through the guides,

which guides consist of a flanged sleeve I), inserted in a hole in the bottom of the case 0, the upper and exterior end of the sleeve being screw-threaded and provided with a nut 5 which when screwed down clamps the bottom of the case C between it and the flange of the sleeve 1), thus forming a closely-fitting rigid vertical guide, which gives passage-way to the pin 1) into the interior of the case Cand holds the pin vertical in its reciprocating movement. This forms the means by which theinward movement of the push-button is made to transmit the start ing impulse through the case 0 to the mechanism within without exposing the latter to the Weather.

D (see Fig. 2) is an elbow-lever fulcrumed at its angle to a stud on the side of the inner case C, nearit-s bottom, and having its lower arm resting directly above and adapted to be raised by the lifting-pin 1), extending down to the push-button. The other arm of this lever bears against a stud on the lower end of a lever E, also fulcru med to a stud on the inner side of the case and havingits lower end pressed outwardly by a spring E. per end of this lever E bears against still another lever F.'which is fnlcru med upon the bridge-piece F and has its lower end drawn toward the lever E by a helical spring F anchored to a stud on the framework of the clock mechanism. The upper and short'end of the lever F bears against the stop-lever G, which is pressed forwardly against the stopwheel H by a spring G. This stop-wheel H is a simple disk, with a notch in it adapted to receive a stop-lug in the lever G. This stop-wheel is on a shaft with one of a train of gears operated by a coil-spring and which are held in check by the lug of stop-lever; but when the stop-lever is raised it permits the gears to rotate at a uniform rate by reason of an escapement until the stop-wheel has made one complete revolution, when the lug of the stop-lever falls into the notch of the stop-wheel again and arrests the further movement of the gears. From this description it will be perceived that when the pushbntton is forced in its effect is, through the pin 1) and the series of levers, to merely re-' move the stop from the clock mechanism and allow the gears to operate.

I is the main winding-shaft, which carries outside the clock-frame a ratchet-wheel I and detent I and inside the said frame (see Fig. 4) has the actuating coil-spring I and gearwheel 1 This gear-wheel l meshes with a pinion J on the same shaft with a large gear- Wheel J, and this gear-wheel J meshes at one point on its periphery with a gear-wheel K, that is on the commutator-shaft, and at another point actuatesthe trainof gears L M, leading to the escapement N. This es- The up-.

capement is simply a vibrating pallet having weighted arms,whose weights are adjustable to or from the center by set-screws, so as to cause the escapement to move more or less rapidly, as may be required. When the stop is removed from the actuating mechanism, it will be seen that the actuating-spring rotates the gears at a uniform rate of speed, and the gears are so arranged as to rotate the com mutator through two complete revolutions for each revolution of the stop-Wheel, which gives the alarm and then repeats it, this being considered sufficient for all purposes and involving the saving of much valuable time which a second repetition would involve.

O is the com mutator-shaft, which bears inside the clock-frame (see Figs. 2 and 4) a plain metal disk 0 and on the outside of said frame bears the comi'nutator-wheel P, which has its periphery wrought into metal contacts representing the different stations. As shown, there are five contact-teeth, followed by three contact-teet h', representing the number 53. The number and grouping of these teeth are so arranged as to be different for each fire-alarm box.

Q R are the two commutator brushes. These are flat metal springs mounted on adjustable non-conducting blocks. Q presses on the disk 0 and has its contacthabitually closed, while R is only closed when it rests upon the tip of one of the teeth on the commutator-wheel. These teeth are in electrical connection with the disk 0 through the shaft, and when brush R is resting on a tooth of the commutator-wheel the circuit is closed, and when it drops off one of these teeth it is broken, thus sending signals to the fire department designating the location of the box from which the alarm was sent. The first tooth of the comm utator-wheel is a broad one, and this is so arranged in relation to the stop-notch of the stop- Wheel that when the clock mechanism is stopped the brush R will always stand on this broad tooth, thus preserving the line-circuit closed through each instrument.

Below the clock mechanism there is located on a non-conducting plate the three usual plates S T U, of which S and T are connected by binding-posts to the two line-terminals, While U is connected to the ground and has jagged edges to form alightning-arrester. V is a plug for connecting these plates at will.

W is a small metal insulated plate near plate S and adapted to be connected to it by the plug, and X is a permanently-closed key resting against said plate.

Y are the bell-magnets, and Z the bell.

The electrical connections for the various parts are as follows: Line-wire 1 enters the outer case of the box at the top, and passing down between the walls of the inner and outer case enters the inner case at the bottom and connects with line-plate T, and from plate T a wire 2 leads to the commutator-brush R. From the other brush Q a wire 3 leads to plate W, which is in electrical connection with key X. From the keyX a wireA leads to the coils of the bell-magnet, and from the other pole of bell-magnet coils a wire 5 leads to lineplate S, and from S the wire 6 leads out through the bottom of the inner case, and thence through the top of the outer case to the aerial line again. From the plate U a wire '7 extends through the bottom of the box to the ground. v

From this description it will be seen that the line-current normally passes through the commutator, the key X, and the bell-magnets, and when the glass panel is broken and an alarm is sounded bypushing in the pushbutton the line-current is made and broken a number of times corresponding to the number and arrangement of teeth on the commutator, which transmits the signal to the central station of the fire department. Furthermore, each time the circuit is made and broken in the box the bell Within the box is rung, so that the sender of i the alarm knows to act upon the mechanism within, and three conducting-wires, two entering the outer case at the top, and one at the bottom, and all passing through the space between the inner and outer case and entering the inner case at the bottom substantially as and for the'purpose described.

2. In a fire-alarm box, the combination with the outer casing having a hinged door with a V frangible glass panel in the lower part thereof,

a completely-closed inner casing located above the glass panel and containing the operative mechanism, a slotted barrel B secured to the inner wall of the outer casing below the inner casing, a push-button having a shank playing in the barrel and bearing a cam on its upper side with an inclined upper surface, a spring arranged in the barrel behind the push-button shank, a vertically-sliding pin arranged in a tubular guide in the bottom of the inner casing, said pin being acted upon by the cam of the push-button below, and in turn acting upon the starting mechanism of circuit is disabled by the burning out of the coils .of any one of the bell-magnets all that is necessary is to insert the conducting-plug V between plate WV and plate S, so as to connect these, and this restablishes the circuit of the instrument by cutting out the bellmagnets and making direct. connection between the commutator brush Q and the plate S.

Une advantage or our box is its lower resistance, as it will not exceed twenty ohms, and by cutting out the bell-coils the resistance is of practically no consequence, and hence the line may be operated with very small battery-power.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A fire-alarm box comprising an outercasing having a' hinged front door with a frangible glass panel in the lowerpart of the same, a complete inner casing C with detachable front panel 0 containing the operative mechanism and completelyinclosing the same, said inner casing being located above the frangible glass panel of the door and with a space between its side walls and those of the outer case, a starting device for the operative mechanism, said starting device being located within the outer case opposite its frangible panel but outside of and below the inner case the clock-gears w1thin the inner case substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination with the inner and outer cases; of the flanged and screw-threaded sleeve b and nut 19 clamping the wall of the inner case between them and forming an elongated passage-way therethrough, the headed pin 1), and a spring-seated push-button bearing an inclined surface resting beneath the pin, said push-button having a range of movement at right angles to the pin substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a fire-alarm box, the combination of the outer casing having a hinged door with a frangible glass panel in its lower portion, a complete inner casing containing the operative mechanism and located within the outer casin g above the glass panel and with a space between its side walls and those of the outer casing, a starting device for the operative mechanism located below the inner casing and opposite the frangible glass panel, means for connecting the starting device with the mechanism within the innercasing, and a marginal metal frame with glass panel and locking devices forming a removable tight cover for closing in the front of the inner casing substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a fire-alarm box as described the combination with a push-button, and a sliding pin passing through the bottom of the inner casing; of the spring-pressed levers D E and F, the stop-lever G, the notched stop-wheel H, the commutator-wheel P, the brushes Q, R, and the actuating coil-spring with gears and escapement substantially as shown and described.

HARLIE EDWARD GREENE. J OHN WILLIAM HALEY.

Witnesses:

WM. L. GORDON, R. E. PRICE. 

